Crypt Custodian review

There are video games featuring characters with all sorts of normal everyday jobs, and it’s been that way throughout history. Mario’s plumbing background is obviously legendary, but with successful games now like Powerwash Simulator we are truly entering a blue collar era of video games. Crypt Custodian is another title that is all about someone with a less glamorous job, although admittedly it’s one they have been given in the afterlife.

We all wonder what life after death looks like, but have you ever wondered about what life after death is like for cats? Well according to Crypt Custodian it’s not the fairest of setups, which our hero Pluto learns first-hand. When judged on their past deeds Pluto is sentenced to a life cleaning up the afterlife forever all eternity, and it doesn’t take long to find others with the same fate. Determined to escape this eternal punishment, Pluto and friends plan an uprising that will require you to gather a whole host of other ghosts and fight the power.

This is a rather charming set up for a game, but the real meat and potatoes of Crypt Custodian is actually similar to a top down Zelda game but with a much more otherworldly setting. Packed with goodies to find and new skills that’ll open up new areas, rolling and jumping down every path is almost always rewarding and will improve Pluto in a variety of ways (although mainly in combat).

The hack and sweep fighting of Crypt Custodian is crisp and delightful, with tight controls and a variety of attacks to keep the nasties at bay. It’s pretty easy to take a bunch of damage and die (or re-die I suppose) if you’re not careful, so dodge rolling and bullet weaving are the name of the game here. Unlike a lot of top down action game heroes though Pluto can jump, which can be used to leap over all projectiles entirely and is incredibly helpful when things get a bit hectic.

Jumping is all well and good for the odd pit blocking your path, but to explore every hidden nook of Crypt Custodian you’ll need more abilities. These are fed to you at a steady rate as you battle through new areas and take down beastly bosses, and expand your repertoire considerably. An air dash will make bigger gaps a breeze, whereas the ability to clone yourself makes weighing down switches manageable. It’s that compelling Metroidvania formula at its finest, with plenty of rewarding upgrades to find if you backtrack with new skills.

The best collectibles that Crypt Custodian has to offer are passive upgrades you can equip. These are all rather game changing, and range from simple stat boosts like bonus health, or attack power when you’re one hit from death, to making all enemies you kill explode into bullets for maximum chaos. You won’t be able to equip these without enough upgrade points though, which you’ll also find in the world or as a reward for besting a tricky challenge.

One way in which Crypt Custodian keeps things fresh throughout your playthrough is with the variety of challenges you’ll find littering the world. There are curse statues which reward you with upgrade points if you can kill a number of enemies while cursed with some sort of awful effect, like with spikes that chase you and damage you if you stand still, or by making all enemies shoot out deadly boomerangs when killed. There are also orbs you need to collect within a strict time limit to open doors to goodies, and chests that only open if you survive a few waves of enemies without taking a hit. If these are too tricky early on there’s no shame in coming back later, but I found the challenge they posed just perfect.

There really isn’t much to complain about in Crypt Custodian, at least nothing too terrible. The death animation takes far too long (even when skipped) and the checkpoints being fairly far apart is sometimes a bit annoying. These issues only really pop up when you die though, and even then aren’t particularly irritating.

Crypt Custodian is a delightful top down Metroidvania, with a unique setting, tight combat and lots of upgrades to collect. Every time I found a new core ability I was giddy with excitement to go back to previously blocked paths, and what more could you want from the genre. Kyle Thompson has again achieved something truly special without a massive team, making Crypt Custodian an incredibly easy game to recommend to almost anyone.